Why I Love The Silver Surfer

in a totally heterosexual way, of course. A friend recently sent me a freeze-frame from the trailer to the new Fantastic Four of the character's movie version , the dude had no shorts, you could see his cosmic tackle. I thought, no, that's just not right, not that I didn't think he had his post-human manhood in entire, but seeing them adds nothing to the noble/tragic nature of the character, adds nothing to an understanding of his plight, illuminating little of his conflicted feelings towards a humanity he must suffer as much as aid, and the depths of space must be cold even for a cosmically powered being, he's wearing those shorts for a purpose.
Why do I love the Silver Surfer? Because he is a perfect marriage of pop/trash culture (to which comic book superheroes do belong most of the time, I'm afraid, this is not Shakespeare) and a mythical imagination which transcends our cultural moment. He reminds me that I am human, not a philosophically beautiful soul or angel, his plight cannot actually be ours, he is trapped and denied the heavens, and we are here in our element and must make the best of things. But most of the time it's just pretty cool, to imagine riding the skyways on a cosmic surfboard. A creation of no little genius from Kirby with some fun faux drama from Lee, but it works.